Archery bow



2, 1 46 ARCHERY-Bow Filed Sept. 5, 1956, Ser. No; 608,021 I This invention aimsto overcome prior deficiencies :of archery bows which have had. a tendencyto defle'ct'the arrow from the intended coursewhenlit is released with the bow string. It also aimsto provide anovel method of manufacture which dispenses with hand tooling for tapering the upper and lower arms of the bow.

One difiiculty with the ordinary bow has been that while the bow string travels in a plane at 'theexact longitudinal center of the bow, the arrow does not take flight in this plane due to passage at one side of the bow. Consequently, the bow acts not only as a guide for the arrow but acts also as a fulcrum for the arrow as the rear end of the latter is driven straight toward the bow by the bow string, the resultbeing that the front end of the arrow is widely swung from the aforesaid plane. Moreover, theextent of such swingingincreases as the bow string nears its straight position, causing the'arrow to initially move somewhat obliquely of theintended line of-fiight before the usual feather or other vane-of the arrow eventually straightens the line of flight. This naturally means inaccuracy which can be overcome only with extensive practice.

A second difficulty has been uneven pull on the bow string by the upper and lower armsof the bow. A stronger pull by the lower arm will downwardly tilt the rear end of the arrow; and a stronger pull by the upper arm will upwardly tilt said rear end of the arrow; To overcome such unbalanced pulls it has heretofore been customary to painstakingly taper the arms'of the bow with hand tools and make repeated tests to attainequal strength and flexibility of the upper. and lower arms. Even then, the'bow must'be grasped equidistantly be; tween its ends or it Will have onelong arm and one short arm which will not exert uniform forward pulls on the bow string. i i a The present invention aims to overcome the difficulties above pointed outby providing a newand improved construction in which the arrow .is effectively guided for straight-line flight as it isimpelled by the bow string. 7

Another object is to provide a novel construction'in which uniform strength for the upper'and lower arms of the bow is easily attainable.

Still another object is to provide a novel construction in which the upper and lowerarm ofthe bow are each formed from two laterally spaced resilient rods of glass fibre and resin bond, steel or other suitable material.

Yet another object is to provide a novel construction in which the resilientrods are connected at their inner ends to a body which has an arrow guide and includes a hand grip.

A further object is'to make novel provision for connecting the bow string with the outer ends of the four resilient rods. o

A still further object is to so shape the arrow guide that the feather or other vane ofthe arrow cannot strike it and possibly cause any deflection of the arrow.

, Another object is togprovide the aforesaid body with a novel hand grip which may turn on a vertical axis Patented Oct. 25, 1960,

and will thus prevent any tendency of thearchers bowholding hand to move the bow out of the intended plane as the arrow and bow string are released. I

Yet another object is to provide the aforesaid body with a hand grip which may turn on a vertical axis and may tiltito the right, the left, forwardly or rearwardly, thereby counteractingany unintentional hand movement of the bow as the arrow and bow string are released. Yet another object .is to provide a novel construction which permits even an unusually strong and stilt bow to be operated .with ease.

A further object is to provide anovel and advantageous construction which may be expeditiously manufactured and profitably sold at a reasonable price.

A still further object is to provide a simplified, less arduous and less expensive method of manufacturing an archery bow-and insuring uniform taper of its upper and lower arms.

With the above and other objects in view that will hereinafter appear, the nature of the invention will be more clearly understood by reference to the following detailed description, the appended claims and the several views illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings: f

Figure 1 is a front elevation partly broken away and in section showing the most simple form of the inven tion.

Figure 2 is a side elevation of Figure l, partly broken away and in section.

Figure 3 is a detail horizontal section on line 3-3 .of Figure 2. V V

Figure 4. is a side elevation, partly broken away and in section, showing a second form of the invention.

Figure 5 is a detail horizontal section on line Figure 4.

Figure 6 is a front elevation, partly broken away and in section, showing a third form of the invention.

Figure 7 is a view similar to Figure 6 showing a fourth form of the invention.

Figures 8 and 9 are respectively a side elevation, partly broken away and in section, and a front elevation, partly broken away and in section showing a fifth form of the invention.

Figure 10 is a side elevation of one of the four tapered rods used in each form of construction.

While preferences have been disclosed in the drawings and will be rather specifically described, it is to be understood that variations may well be made Within the scope of the invention.

Each form of the invention includes a body 12, two laterally spaced, upper, tapered, resilient rods 1 3 .con; nected to and converging upwardly from said body 12, two lower, laterally spaced, tapered resilient rods.13a connected to and converging downwardly from said body 12, an upper tip member 14 connected to the upper ends of the upper rods 13, a lower tip member 14a connected to the lower ends of the lower rods 13a, and a bow string 15 connected to said tip members.

The body 12 has upper and lower sockets 16 and 16a removably receiving the inner ends of the upper and lower rods 13 and 13a, respectively. The upper and lower tip members 14 and 14a also have sockets 17 and 17a removably receiving the outer ends of the upper and lower rods 13 and 13a, respectively. A construction is thus provided which may be shipped and sold in knocked-down form and easily assembled by the purchaser. This construction also allows easy disassembly for carrying from place to place and equally easy re-assembly foruse. v

All four rods 13 and 13a for each form of construe tion are of uniform length, diameter and taper and hence s s of have uniform resiliency to exert equal pull on the upper and lower ends of the bow string 15. These rods may be easily and rapidly shaped and sized by machine grinding and require no hand tooling. Steel, glass with resin bond or other suitable material may be used.

The body 12 in each form of construction has an arrowguiding notch 18 in its upper end and located centrally between its sockets 16. Each body 12 also has a relatively deep and narrow notch 19 which opens upwardly through the bottom of the notch 18, to-clear the usual feather or other vane of an arrow.

In Fiures l to 3 a one-piece block 20 constitutes the body 12. This block is vertically elongated to form a hand grip and is provided with laterally widened upper and lower ends 21 and 21a in which the sockets 16 and 16a are formed, respectively.

In Figures 4 and 5,, a one-piece vertically elongated block 22 forms the body 12 and is upwardly recessed at 23 from its lower end to a plane near the arrow-guiding notch 18. The lower sockets 16a open into the recessing 23 and the lower rods 13a extend through this recessing out of contact with the walls thereof. This construction connects the lower rods 13a with the block in more close relation with the notch 18 and permits the block 22 to have adequate length to form a convenient hand grip.

In Figure 6, the body 12 is formed from a block 20a similar to the block 20 of Figures 1 and 2, and a cylindrical sleeve 24. This sleeve turnably surrounds the cylindrical portion 25 of the block 20a. When using the how, the sleeve 24 is gripped in one hand and if the archer has an involuntary tendency to move the bow from the intended plane as the bow string and the arrow are released, the sleeve only will turn with the hand.

A very similar construction is shown in Figure 7 but the sleeve 24a engages a central spherical enlargement 26 on the portion 25a of the block 20b. This construction allows the sleeve 24a to not only turn but to tilt in any direction if the archers hand involuntarily twitches during discharge of the arrow, thus preventing such involuntary movements from being imparted to the bow.

In Figures 8 and 9, the upper tip member 14 carries a small sheave 27, and the lower tip member 14a carries a sheave 27a. The upper and lower end portions 28 and 28a are trained around the sheaves 27 and 27a and are anchored to bridges 29 and 29a which are suitably secured to the upper and lower rods 13 and 13a, respectively. The bridges 29 and 29a are near the body 12 Where there is relatively little flexing of the rods during use of the bow. This construction so lengthens the archers pull on the bow string that even an unusually strong and stiff bow may be flexed with ease.

The body 12 of Figures 8 and 9 is shown in the same form as in Figure 1 but it could well correspond structurally to that of any of Figures 4, 6 and 7.

While it is preferred that two spaced rods be employed both above and below the hand grip as described in detail hereinabove, it is to be understood that the novel bow features may be incorporated in a structure wherein two resilient upper rods are employed connected with and converging upwardly from the hand grip bow, in combination with a single resilient lower rod means converging at side portions thereof downwardly from said body.

From the foregoing it will be seen that novel and advantageous provision has been disclosed for attaining the desired ends. However, attention is again invited to the possibility of making variations within the scope of the invention.

Iclaim:

1. An archery bow comprising a vertically elongated body including a hand grip, said body having an arrow guide in its upper end, two resilient matched upper rods disposed in coplanar relation at opposite sides of a central longitudinal plane through said body and its arrow guide, the lower ends of said upper rods being laterally spaced apart and disposed equidistantly from said central plane and forming an elongated, uninterrupted opening in direct communication with said guide,

said upper rods converging uniform-1y upward toward said central plane from their lower to their upper ends and terminating on opposite. sides of said central plane, two resilient similarly matched lower rods disposed in coplanar relation at opposite sides of said central plane, the upper ends of said lower rods being laterally spaced apart and disposed equidistantly from said central plane, said lower rods converging uniformly downward toward said central plane from their upper to their lower ends and terminating on opposite sides of said central plane, an upper tip member connected with the upper ends of said upper rods, a lower tip member connected with the lower ends of said lower rods, and a bow string stretched between and substantially bisecting said tipmembers and operable in said central plane, said arrow guide being normal to said central plane to permit free movement of an arrow shaft, feather and nock portion to pass therethrough.

2. A structure as specified in claim 1, said body having four separate elongated sockets individually receiving the inner ends of said rods respectively, said tips also having elongated sockets receiving the outer ends of said rods.

3. A structure as specified in claim 1, in which said arrow guide in the upper end of said body is formed with an upwardly open arrow guiding notch located between said upper rods, and with a relatively narrow notch which opens upwardly through the bottom of said arrow guiding notch to clear the feather or other vane on the arrow.

4. A structure as specified in claim 3 in which said hand grip is of one-piece form.

5. A structure as specified in claim 3, in which said hand grip is a one-piece vertically elongated block form having laterally widened ends.

6. A structure as specified in claim 5; the portion of said block between said laterally widened ends being cylindrical, and a sleeve rotatably surrounding said cylindrical portion to be gripped in one hand.

7. A structure as specified in claim 5; the portion of said block between said laterally widened ends being straight and being provided centrally between its ends with a spherical enlargement, and a cylindrical sleeve rotatably and tiltably surrounding said straight portion and its enlargement and contacting with the latter.

8. A structure as defined in claim 1, in which all of said rods are tapered towards their outer ends, said body having four separate elongated sockets individually receiving the inner ends of said rods respectively, said tip members also having elongated sockets receiving the outer ends of said rods, said arrow guide comprising an upwardly open arrow guiding notch formed in the upper end of said body between said upper rods and a relatively narrow notch which opens upwardly through the bottom of said arrow guiding notch to clear the feather or other vane of the arrow.

9. The structure as specified in claim 8 in which said hand grip is an elongated block form, upwardly recessed from its lower end to a plane near said arrow guiding notch and including therein the two lower vertically elongated sockets disposed above and opening downwardly through said recess, substantially aligned with said upper pair of sockets and receiving the inner ends of the lower tapered rods therein.

10. A structure as specified in claim 1 in which said hand grip is rotatable on an axle extending vertically in the longitudinal central plane of said bow and tiltable angularly in various directions about said axis.

11. A structure as defined in claim 1, together with an upper sheave and a lower sheave carried by said upper tip member and said lower tip member respectively, said sheaves lying in said central plane and said how string being entrained about said sheaves and being anchored to said upper and lower rods respectively at points near said body, the anchor points of said bow string being sufliciently distant from said sheaves to allow flexing of said resilient rods between said anchor points and said sheaves. 1

12. A structure as defined in claim 11 in which the upper and lower rods are connected by upper and lower bridge members respectively, said upper and lower bridge members being located near said body, said upper and lower end portions of said bow string being anchored to said upper and lower bridge members respectively.

126,734 Morton May 14, 1872 6 Streeter Apr. 1, 1879 Robinson Feb. 3, 1880 Howe July 25, 1882 Barnhart June 16, 1931 Gille et a1. Mar. 9, 1937 Lowell Jan. 9, 1940 Julian Nov. 20, 1951 Wurster July 19, 1955 Eberbach Oct. 7, 1958 OTHER REFERENCES "Archery The Technical Side (1947), pp. 50-68. 

